What's the difference? Well for one starting with issue# 49 they started coming with PS2 demo discs. The subscription issues had the disc inside a vertical pouch with art work and info on it attached inside the actual magazine where with the retail versions the disc just came shrinkwrapped on a white piece of cardboard like the PS1 demo discs.
Secondly, they came in a different plastic bag. The easiest way to tell the difference between subscriber and retail issues when they are Brand New is that the subscriber issues came in a clear bag that says "Periodicals" as well as a home address sticker and the retail issues came in a bag with info about what's inside.
As far as I can tell there is no difference inside between the home and retail versions of the PS1 demo discs issues. Only difference is the bag.
Then if that wasn't enough sometime around mid 2004 the Magazine teamed up with 1up.com and they changed the demo disc style of the retail issues to that of the home issues. So all issues from mid 2004 until the end were now the same.
Lastly in 2006 subscriber versions stopped coming in plastic bags and now had the address label printed on the actual cover while retail versions remained in the bag.
Here are some examples of Issue# 38 between a subscriber and retail issue:
Subscriber Version:
Retail Version:
